Issue No 80 | 01 December 2000 | |
NewsLight for Shafted Woodlawn Miners
After nearly three years, the wait for justice for 160 Woodlawn miners may be over after the Carr Government approved a plan to convert the disused Southern NSW mine into a waste landfill site.
The miners were left more than $6.5 million out of pocket in unpaid entitlements after the mine collapsed in March 1998. Since then, their union - the Australian Workers Union - along with the Transport Workers Union has pushed hard for the wastefill site proposal as a way of recovering some of the moneys owed. They had reached an agreement with administrators Pricewaterhouse Coopers that once approval was granted, the administrators would use this approval as a basis for obtaining finance to pay the outstanding entitlements. That approval was granted by Planning Minister Andrew Refshauge on Wednesday, in what will be the largest sustainable waste management site in NSW. Under the plan, methane from the waste will be used to generate electricity. Following approval, the administrators pledging the first stage of repayments - totaling $3 million - would be delivered within 12 months. They said once other payments are settled, the balance of entitlements 'could become available from the royalty scheme received over time'. However, no guarantees have been given at this stage. Labor Council, at the request of the AWU, is now seeking a meeting with Pricewaterhouse Coopers to progress the payment of the workers entitlements.
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Interview: Chewing the Fat with Della In a rare extended interview, NSW 's new industrial relations minister State John Della Bosca outlines his vision for the new workplace. Unions: Organising - There Is No Choice LHMU national secretary Jeff Lawrence responds to Brisbane Institutue director Peter Botsman's attack on organising. Corporate: The Riddles of Democracy at Telstra Shareholder activist Stephen Mayne explains how the big guys ran roughshod when he and trade union activists attempted to stand for the Telstra board. Education: Training for Change Labor Council's Michael Gadiel outlines a traiing agenda for the 21st century. History: A Stack of Hypocrits Ballot rigging, sanctioned by the courts, sponsored by the government were a Liberal Party and Bob Menzies speciality - and they introduced legislation to legalise it. International: African Unions Go To War Against AIDS The war on AIDS is now the number one priority of the ICFTU's African Regional Organization (AFRO), which has launched an ambitious five-year action plan in nine of the most severely afflicted African nations. Satire: Teenage Hackers Behind Shock Cabinet Reshuffle Seasoned front-benchers and political greenhorns alike were joined in stunned surprise today, as a sudden Cabinet reshuffle radically altered the shape of the Federal Government. Review: Manufacturing Dissent A new production explores Australian's approach to refugees and their experiences coming to a strange land.
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